John Charles Martin (25 July 1903 – 31 December 1976) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a central defender.

Career

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

-born Martin crossed the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

to begin his career with

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

in 1923. After failing to break into ''the Clarets''' first team, he joined Accrington Stanley the following year. The defender made twenty-eight league appearances for ''Stanley'', scoring one goal, before joining Frank Buckley's

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in 1926. Martin made his debut for ''the Seasiders'' on 27 November, in a 2–2 draw with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

at Bloomfield Road. He made two further league appearances in 1926–27, before being released at the end of the season. He remained in the north-west for the remainder of his career, playing for Southport (two spells),

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

, Nelson, Wigan Borough and Oldham Athletic. He retired in 1932, after a nine-year and eight-club playing career. He is survived by his daughter Irene, born 1925 during his time at Accrington Stanley, her two daughters, Diane and Karen, his grandchildren, Andrew, Laura, Matthew, David and six great grandchildren, Siân, Mason, Anderson, Blake, Ada and Thea. His grandsons all followed in his footsteps and were keen amateur footballers in their day;two now coach youth teams in the area. Three of his great grandsons currently play for local teams in Burnley.

References

* * * 1903 births 1976 deaths Footballers from Leeds English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Burnley F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Blackpool F.C. players Southport F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Wigan Borough F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-defender-1900s-stub